(GREEK NEWS AGENDA) Prime Minister George Papandreou chaired a cabinet meeting yesterday that focused on a bill drafted by the Interior Ministry, which will grant new rights to expatriates and immigrants.

The bill – which has been approved by the cabinet – grants an estimated 250,000 immigrants legally residing in Greece more than five years and expatriates the right to elect and be elected in local government elections. Furthermore, the draft bill allows second generation immigrants to be naturalised.”Granting citizenship to overseas Greeks as well as immigrants is a wager that Greece has no right not to win,” the premier said, noting that conditions of security, safety, and social justice should be created. The transfer of populations, he noted, “has reached dimensions that cannot be controlled and it is natural that this provokes concern.” The premier noted that he UN’s High Commissioner on Refugees Antonio Gutieres -who is expected in Athens – has approved these measures on immigration.